The city of Tucker will hold a series of community meetings before November’s election, when voters will make an important decision on how certain local services are provided.
If Tucker voters approve the Nov. 8 referendum is approved, the city would take over roads and maintenance responsibilities, as well as stormwater services, from DeKalb County.
“The city of Tucker was formed to provide residents with more local control, including accountability for how our tax dollars are utilized in our community,” Mayor Frank Auman said in a new release.
“After reviewing current public works service levels provided by DeKalb County, we voted as an elected body to put forth a referendum that, if approved, would keep tax dollars for these services within the city, substantially improve service delivery and better align efforts with our ongoing improvements.”
According to the press release, a homeowner with a property valued at $328,000 would see an average tax bill increase of about $94 if the referendum is approved. An affirmative vote would authorize the city to charge up to 3 mills — or $3 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value — to cover roads, maintenance and stormwater services.
This year, Tucker property owners paid about 1 mill toward the DeKalb County’s designated roads and transportation fund.
Road services taken over by the city would include pothole, sidewalk and curb repairs, pavement marking and maintenance of traffic signals and bridges.
The city is hosting three in-person community meetings ahead of the referendum. They will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21; 10 a.m. on Tuesday Oct. 18; and 7 p.m. on Wednesday Oct. 26.
All meetings will be held at City Hall, 1975 Lakeside Parkway in Tucker. They will also be accessible online at tuckerga.gov/pwmeeting.
See the referendum language as it will appear on the ballot below and find more information at tuckerga.gov/publicworks.
If approved, affected services would transition to Tucker on July 1, 2023.
PUBLIC WORKS REFERENDUM LANGUAGE
Transition of Public Works Services from DeKalb County to City of Tucker
Shall the City of Tucker be authorized to directly provide road construction and maintenance including curbs, sidewalks, street-lights, devices to control the flow of traffic, and stormwater management rather than rely upon DeKalb County to provide such services on its behalf and to levy and collect ad valorem property tax at a millage rate not to exceed 3 mills simultaneous with the ending of the collection of DeKalb County road and transportation special district ad valorem property tax?
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